Miguel Cabrera screwed up

Miguel Cabrera had a pretty crappy Friday night, and it just isn’t ending – nor should it. Cabrera screwed up big time and is deserving of the bulk of the criticism that he is receiving today. Whether it was a lapse of judgment or a habitual problem remains to be seen but getting drunk enough to blow a .26 at 6 a.m. on the morning of one of the biggest games in his Tigers career is a huge problem. The problem has since been compounded by errors in judgment by Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski.

The Story

Everyone has heard the story by now. Cabrera leaves the Tigers clubhouse after nearly popping out for the cycle on Friday night and finds himself eventually at the Rugby Grille in the Townsend Hotel. It’s a bar he’s been told to avoid by the Tigers after an August 31st incident, yet he’s there with a member(s) of the White Sox.

While there he consumes mass amounts of alcohol. For a 240 lb. man to get his blood alcohol up to .26 would mean something like 22 drinks in a 7 hour period. He eventually stumbles home to a wife who becomes irate when he wakes up the whole house talking loudly on his cell phone. There is an altercation that left his wife Rosangel with an injured lip and Cabrera scratches on the right side of his face and results in a call to 911 at 6:05 a.m.

Police find a broken cell phone and a broken chain and an incoherent and uncooperative Cabrera. They take him to the station for questioning with an interpreter. This is when he blew the .26 which is below the limit for medical intervention.

He is then released to Tigers President, General Manager, and CEO Dave Dombrowski who picks him up between 7:30 and 8 a.m.

The Tigers Response

An average person metabolizes alcohol at .015 per hour meaning it would take about 17 hours to metabolize all the alcohol in Cabrera’s blood. At the time Dombrowski picks him up Cabrera had less than 12 hours until game time and less than 9 hours until he needed to be at the park.

Even if Cabrera metabolized the alcohol quickly and was aided by IV fluids to stave of dehydration, there is no way he would have been in game shape to play on Saturday night. Yet there he was in the starting lineup.

Jim Leyland claimed ignorance on what happened to Cabrera’s face. Trainer Kevin Rand issued a statement through the team denying any knowledge. That Dombrowski and Leyland both knew about the situation and chose to let him take the field in a pennant race absolutely sends the wrong message to the fans, the team, and probably to Cabrera.

What to make of Cabrera’s actions?

I think Cabrera screwed up. I’m disappointed and I feel let down. I don’t know if he’s a bad guy or a guy that made a bad decision. I don’t know if he’s an alcoholic or a guy who got hammered. I frankly don’t care what Cabrera does on his own time – as long as it doesn’t adversely impact the team. If Cabrera was able to compete in his state then I’m much less inclined to react. But the circumstances and the results paint a grim picture.

Athletes have a right to private lives but when the careless decisions made in those private lives impact my favorite team’s ability to compete then I care. This was going out and having drinks and getting in late. This was a complete lack of respect for the fans. I won’t speak for the Tigers and their take on the situation. I don’t know if they are distracted or angry or if they just want to rally around their teammate.

I invest a great deal of time and money and passion in the team. If they fail because they aren’t good or just get beat it is one thing. If they are hungover and exhausted because of a night of idiocy I feel cheated.

There has been a lot of feel good talk about how the team recognizes the economic struggles of the region and that they want to put their best effort forward for the fans. I appreciate players coming out and saying what they’ve said in that regard. I don’t know if that’s the reason for their home record, but I appreciate the sentiment. Yet the franchise player has pissed all over that sentiment.

I have no false pretenses that athletes are all wonderful people and really I care more about what happens on the field than off it. It’s just easier to cheer for the ones who excel in both facets. Fortunately the Tigers by and large seem to be a group of guys that fans can be proud of off the field and on it. Many are involved in the community and in my limited interactions the positives far outweigh the negatives.

If this is immaturity then Cabrera needs to grow up. If this alcoholism then he needs help. In either case Cabrera needs to apologize to the fans. He needs to issue a real apology. To stand up in front of a TV camera and muster some sincerity. A canned statement where he apologizes because his actions have become a distraction is far different than apologizing for his actions and it is hardly sufficient.

Fortunately nobody was severely injured. Neither Cabrera nor his wife suffered long term physical damage. There was nobody hurt in an automobile accident. That’s the good news. Cabrera is a fun player to watch. A guy that looks like he loves playing baseball and he is blessed with incredible talent. The hope is that Cabrera can learn from this and avoid these situations in the future.

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65 Comments

Russ in IN

October 5, 2009 at 7:48 pm

I couldn’t agree more with you. He has a responsibility to act in a responsible way. He has a job and if his off-the-clock activities interfere with his job, then, like any of us, he should be held accountable and not coddled. He disrespected all of the fans, not so much by binging, but by not being mature enough to own up to his error in judgment. That deciept was compounded by the bad decision making of at least Donmbrowski. Sad. He should have been benched to send a message. Sad. I lost all of the respect I had for Cabrera–especially in light of a comment one commenrator made not long ago: He’s shaping up to be a young Pujols. Albert, though, I don’t think would have ever let his team and fans down in this manner…Sad…

Can we demand he pay back all of the fans at the last two games for their tickets?

Joel Barish

October 5, 2009 at 7:51 pm

This is a well-written and thoughtful take on the issue. I’ve known since Charles Barkley told me so in 1993 that athletes aren’t supposed to be role models but after following every up and down of a 162-game season a fan tends to get pretty attached to his team and its players. I know the players are entitled to their private lives but for Cabrera to show such disregard for his team and its fans on the eve of the most important weekend of the year leaves a pretty bitter taste in my mouth. Thanks for the site and keep up the great work.

Kathy

October 5, 2009 at 7:56 pm

OMG, the drama! Cut out the drinking or get a divorce. I’m not in the least personally offended. Go Tigers!!!!!

Kevin in Dallas

October 5, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Post of the night.

Eric Cioe

October 5, 2009 at 8:02 pm

What a poor decision. If he wanted to get hammered, he should have waited two nights. I don’t put a lot of faith in players or anything but this to me is the same as a starting pitcher coming to camp out of shape and not being able to handle a 200 inning workload. I bet at least a couple of the guys on the team are pissed at him. I bet Verlander’s mad, and I bet Granderson is mad. I bet Carlos Guillen and Magglio are super mad. And they should be. If they lose on Tuesday, they ought to throw him a blanket party with baseballs inside of their socks. He let his whole team and the whole state down when no one was really in the mood to be let down. I really hope he comes out and issues an apology. If this happened in New York everyone would be going ape s on him.

David

October 5, 2009 at 8:22 pm

Your comment made me smile

buffselig

October 5, 2009 at 8:03 pm

It sure is disappointing to have the franchise player show such bad judgment at such a critical time. He has let down management, his teammates, his family and the fans. I am also tremendously disappointed in managements decision to let him play on Saturday and Sunday. No wonder his buddy Freddy Garcia has such a good day against him even though he threw several pitches that Cabrera should have smashed.
If he doesn’t make a clean apology to all affected parties, I wish Leyland would hold him out on Tuesday. An off season trade would also be in order.

Chris in Dallas

October 5, 2009 at 8:16 pm

Good take billfer. I don’t necessarily agree with 100% of your sentiments, but I understand where you’re coming from. I guess the question becomes what do athletes owe us as fans? I say nothing. In the end, we root for laundry. I’m long past the point of expecting players to be exemplary citizens and role models for the community. They’re just people. It’s nice when you see a guy who seems to act the right way, but the bottom line is we don’t know any of them anyway. For all I know, Curtis Granderson could be a huge a-hole. The team is the important thing, not the individuals who make it up. So yeah, Miguel Cabrera’s lapse in judgement isn’t going to sour me on the Tigers or keep me from hoping he hits 7 HR tomorrow. They’re there to provide 3 hours of entertainment. What they do beyond that is their business.

billfer

October 5, 2009 at 8:24 pm

But his actions likely impacted the team negatively.

Chris in Dallas

October 6, 2009 at 8:49 am

This may or may not be true. Knowing your ususal analysis of baseball, I’m sure you would agree that correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Baseball history is littered with stories of guys being the awesome after late night carousing. And given the fact that Miguel could drink enough to blow a .26, I’m going to speculate that this isn’t his first rodeo. That he’s been able to put up a top 5 OPS would indicate his performances haven’t necessarily been affected in the past. His timing and judgement was poor and I’m sure he’s embarrassed. I’m ready to look past it and pull for him to knock the snot out of Scott Baker.

Rob in Ottawa

October 5, 2009 at 8:16 pm

How easy is it to bench your offensive horse-half drunk or not- before the biggest game of the year? Baseball is littered with stories of players who seemed to be able to match their in-game exploits with their drinking exploits. Think Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and even David Wells and I am sure there are many more.

In retrospect, yes, the correct decision was to bench Miggy – but this was after we saw how badly he sucked it up while leaving 6 on base. If he was able to eke out a hit, either by pure fluke or skill, this story would have fallen on deaf ears.

Plus if they lost without Miggy in the lineup everyone would be questioning Leyland’s sanity. How could you not start your best player!? All he has is a scratch on his face! Anyone else would crawl through broken glass to start in a game that big..they couldn’t have been sure that this story was going to be released a few days later. It sends the wrong message, but I think you gotta stick with the girl that you brought to the dance…even if she is puking all over you.. He is so skilled that you can’t be sure that Thames or anyone else sober is better than a drunk/hungover Cabrera going into that game and winning the game is all that matters at the time of filling out the lineup card. Leyland probably figured that they could deal with this mess after the season, but lets win some games first.

Chris

October 6, 2009 at 3:42 pm

Any sane person would bench a guy who was drunk. We deserve to lose the division.. There are stories of guys hung over and performing, not still drunk. The organization made a ridiculously bad choice…if anybody asked after a loss, why he wasn’t playing.. you just say, “we picked him up at 8AM w/ a .26 blood alcohol level..he was in no shape to play” That would be the common sense answer… the answer that a winning organization, with good leadership would give… Do you think Nick lidstrom and the leadership would let Datsyuk play game 7, if he was drunk in the morning? I know the goose loonies incident in the late 80′s…but, if you remember Scotty wanted Probert gone, so he was not a bad influence on McCarty and other young players… its called integrity and quite frankly if you think he should have played, I have to question your integrity.. this was about as big a no- brainer as possible.. even if he hit 4 HR in the game.

Bill

October 5, 2009 at 8:20 pm

I lived in Boston as a kid + I still follow the Red Sox. I know they really wanted Cabrera a while back. If the Tigers lose tomorrow I think Cabrera will be traded. Sadly, I think it is best for him + the Tigers. He is on pace to hit 600 career HR’s. However, he is very immature. I think he needs to be in a clubhouse with veterans-like the Red Sox. If he stays in Detroit, he will never be forgiven by the fans. Who knows what the other players are thinking. He screwed up and must pay the price. I hope DD unloads him.

billfer

October 5, 2009 at 8:25 pm

The Tigers have veterans – even fellow Venezuelans. I don’t know that trading him to the Red Sox would be making him pay the price. Now to the Nationals maybe…

chrisg219

October 5, 2009 at 8:23 pm

This is disappointing and he should put out a more legitimate apology, but on the eve of the biggest game of the season it’s not the time to debate what he should have done over the weekend or if he should be traded in the off season — a ridiculous notion b/t/w. Seems to me that the guy has been a gamer since we got him. Not a problem child. Sure, he could have used better judgment and maybe he’s even got serious personal issues he’s dealing with. If his wife didn’t call 911, none of you would know a thing. You’d think he was a saint like every other athlete who’s never been caught. Right now, he needs to get his head wrapped around tomorrow’s game. That’s it. Nothing else. Whatever rehab stuff he needs will still be there in November.

That’s just the thing, though. Cabrera doesn’t owe us anything, but he sure owes the team. If I were another player for the Tigers right now, I’d be pretty ticked off at Cabrera. The team is absolutely the important thing, and the team has been affected by this. Do you think the first thought in any of the other players’ minds is about how important the game tomorrow is, or do you think they’re thinking (like the rest of us) about this mess Cabrera has stirred up? I’m inclined to think the latter. If I’ve worked all season to get to this point and someone who’s supposed to be working with me shows just how much it matters to them by going out and getting trashed, I would not be a happy camper. The players don’t have to be perfect, and we shouldn’t expect that. But Cabrera is paid to play, and if his off-field behavior limits his capacity to do that, then the Tigers absolutely need to do something about it.

They are just people, but I don’t see why it would be okay for anyone to go into work drunk and physically unprepared for a significant day. I know it happens, but I don’t think that’s okay. I don’t want a surgeon/pilot/fire fighter, heck, even one of my professors showing up drunk or severely hungover. Cabrera doesn’t get to be an exception just because he plays a game for a living. I know we all get the benefit of not having our actions all over the newspapers/tv/internet, but that doesn’t mean we can behave however we want.

Jeff

October 5, 2009 at 9:50 pm

“Do you think the first thought in any of the other players’ minds is about how important the game tomorrow is, or do you think they’re thinking (like the rest of us) about this mess Cabrera has stirred up?”

I think they’re thinking about the game.

chrisg219

October 5, 2009 at 8:31 pm

OK, he’s a drunk, a loser, an unrole model, a punk, a wife beater, and owes his teammates and us a million dollars each. Oh yeah an he should be a Nat next year. Great. Can we talk about the game now?

David

October 5, 2009 at 8:37 pm

I think you’ve got pros and cons of each, but in the end IF they warned him they HAVE to follow through. Credibility and doing what you say speaks volumes.

One player does not make a team.

Either way I’d rather have an Ichiro or a Mauer or a Pujols etc. than him.

Heck trade him to the Royals for Zack attack. I’d do that in a heartbeat.

Joey in Portland OR

October 5, 2009 at 8:39 pm

I bet it was Ozzie who took him out and got him all banged up! Dirty white sux!

Larry L.

October 5, 2009 at 8:59 pm

Tremendous writing, Bilfer. There’s no way I could articulate it as well as you have, but I absolutely agree with all of your points, 100%. Having spent a great deal of time, energy, emotion, and cash on rooting this team on this season, I feel as though Cabrera has let me down. I can’t imagine how his teammates must feel.

Eric Cioe

October 5, 2009 at 9:16 pm

Miguel Cabrera did this weekend what all of us have done all season: be inebriated enough to tolerate the run scoring abilities of his teammates.

I hope he apologizes but I think the thought of trading him is both asinine and immoral. If a man has problems, it should be up to his friends to give him help when he needs it. If he’s in a time of need, you can’t turn him away.

Kathy

October 5, 2009 at 9:29 pm

Now, there’s your comment of the night!!! Go Tigers!

David

October 5, 2009 at 9:39 pm

This game is a business and if they get a good offer and it would be cheaper for them to dump him than take the risk of trying to fix him than so be it.

If they could get a few fantastic talents for him, depending upon who those talents were, I can’t say I wouldn’t listen. But you are right, they should try to help him assuming he wants this to end.

Coleman

October 5, 2009 at 10:10 pm

I suspect Magglio has stepped up and decided it’s time to be big brother to the big kid.

And if so that says a lot about him as a person–he’s had his own tough times this year; it would be human to feel a bit bitter–but humane to offer his support, which I think is more the kind of guy he is.

Tbone

October 5, 2009 at 9:43 pm

Amen, Billfer. You touch on a couple of questions that have yet to be asked and answered.

Questions for Leyland: Did he really not know what happened to Miggy on Friday night? Does he still stand by that statement? If not, does he think his GM should relay that type of critical information to his manager before game time? If he did know, did he think he had sobered up enough to play Saturday night? Does he think it’s ok in general to start an intoxicated player?

Questions for Dombrowski: Did you tell your manager what happened? Did the Tigers consider testing his BA before game time?

This is the best summary I’ve so far read. Let me echo Tbone’s questions above and add to it one more: how did he get home from the bar/hotel? If, as I suspect, he drove…then there is another issue.

His private life is his alone, but he makes a lot of money based upon the public’s support of him and his talents. His wife used public assistance when police were called via 911. He likely drove. He affected his teammates, employer and fans with his failure to perform at his best, with potentially millions of dollars in consequences for all parties. And he, along with the Tigers, lied to the public about the incident. A true and sincere apology is the very least he owes everyone….even better would be a rededication to carrying the team, as a $20/m middle-of-the-order hitter should.

if i remember correctly raburn hasn’t faced him, although he has been hot lately

i suspect porcello is going to give us a very good start

Bill

October 5, 2009 at 10:15 pm

One last comment on the Cabrera situation. This game, already huge could mean EVEN more. If Tigers lose-Cabrera may not survive in Detroit, and both Leyland and Dombrowski will have alot to explain. A win would make everything a little more tolerable.

Karen

October 5, 2009 at 10:29 pm

Makes me wonder if Cabrera’s many nights of no-hits was caused by too much alcohol. His hitting has been awful the last couple of weeks.

Coleman

October 5, 2009 at 10:40 pm

If you read the story about his bar run-in at the end of August, it says he admitted he was upset about going 1-12 against the Rays…so his mini-slumps may have been caused by his drinking, OR they may have inspired his drinking–or both (or neither). While it’s true his hitting was worth a ham sandwich after his escapade, it also was worth about a ham sandwich before it…which is also why I think it’s simplistic to say he obviously doesn’t care–it’s just as likely that when he fails in important games it upsets him enough that it is a catalyst for his bar misadventures…

David

October 5, 2009 at 11:01 pm

Coleman who are you?

Sometime, I’d like to go see a game with you and see if you are this quirky/funny/truthful in person.

stephen

October 5, 2009 at 11:18 pm

Oh you two lovebirds should get a room.

David

October 6, 2009 at 2:40 am

you too stephen, we should all go to a tigers home game sometime next year

Coleman

October 6, 2009 at 12:00 am

Um, well “who are you” is one of those questions not so easy to answer, is it?

And I could tell you I’m always truthful in person, but I’d be lying (yeah, but then…oh, nevermind)–although i’m not sure what inspired that comment.

But I’ll admit I’ve been called funny. (Though not in the sense stephen seems to imply…)

David

October 6, 2009 at 2:42 am

well i don’t know, i just seem to chuckle at a lot of the stuff you say, and it seems to be stuff i generally agree with

Coleman

October 6, 2009 at 3:28 am

Well, I’m an agreeable sort for the most part. I even agree with stephen most of the time, although he may not have caught on to that yet. The one guy I couldn’t agree with was Chris when he went off on how Cabrera was no good and was a bad character. Doh! (Bonus points that he hasn’t rushed here to go nyah nyah told ya’ so yet…about the character bit I mean, he’s still kinda one of the best hitters in the league…).

I am currently holed up in California, though there’s a chance I won’t be by the time next season starts…I’ve only been seeing them on the road lately–the last several times I’ve been in Michigan it’s been out of season…in fact the last Tiger home game I saw was the 2nd-to-last game ever played at Tiger stadium…

Keith (Mr. X)

October 5, 2009 at 11:12 pm

I don’t agree. If Miggy had a 2 homerun night with 8 rbi’s, while hungover or half drunk, then I don’t anyone here would care. People are just mad because we lost the game.

Miggy is the best hitter on the team. He’s got to play.

Jeff Molby

October 5, 2009 at 11:20 pm

Indeed, but he didn’t. If he’d like to list a number of dates when he showed up to the park with self-inflicted wounds, I’d be happy to take a larger sample size into account. Failing that, I’ll make my judgements with the data (and logic) available.

Keith (Mr. X)

October 5, 2009 at 11:18 pm

People are just looking for excuses for the Tigers to lose. Some fans have packed it in already, but it’s not even over yet.

jason

October 5, 2009 at 11:51 pm

NO. Incorrect.

I expect the players who are paid well, especially the cornerstone of our lineup to show up prepared. That does not include going out and being silly drunk and staying up until, well, at least 7:30 or 8:00am when your GM picks you up from jail.

If he wants to do that stuff on an off day, or in the offseason… have fun! Go for it. But when I pay to see him play, I don’t want a tired drunk guy swinging the bat. I can see that in my softball league.

Keith (Mr. X)

October 6, 2009 at 12:08 am

I think the Tigers have a legit shot at winning the division Tomorrow. If the fans want to dwell on this, then that’s their poor judgment. Forgive and lets move on. There is still more baseball to be played.

Coleman

October 6, 2009 at 12:09 am

Also, I’m still holding out hope for the “Mauer out celebrating with Favre” scenario…

ian (seattle)

October 5, 2009 at 11:42 pm

Im really torn on this..on one hand, I agree that its his life- and that as long as no one is really hurt (assuming he didnt, and has never struck his wife with actual malice)- then its really not our business to judge. We can have our anger as fans for possibly ruining the spirit of the team, but I think Miggy has had a net positive effect on the team since his arrival. Yes, it was a regrettable incident- but the kid is just a kid. Ive made some really bad mistakes before, and I cant feel right passing judgement on him. I cant even imagine the kind of stress he takes on everyday. I get worked up if my boss gives me an email warning for being late…Cabrera has a lot more on his plate than any of us.

On the other hand- what a bonehead move.
1) dont get hammered on a game night
2) dont get hammered on during the playoff races
3) dont get hammered with the OTHER TEAM (i think it was Ozzie)
4) dont hurt your wife

Id like to think he would be a better person than this, but in reality he is a wealthy, young, professional ballplayer. Sometimes it seems like this is par for the course. guys like Jamie Moyer, and Curtis Granderson are not the norm..they are the exception. We put these guys on the mantles because they can hit a ball really far. Not because they are great humanitarians or thoughtful spouses.

…but dammit, Miggy. What stupid timing….

greg

October 6, 2009 at 2:16 am

The Miggy love expressed here is mildly disgusting, but not as disgusting as Miggy’s pathetic so-called apology. It just might be worse than if he hadn’t apologized at all. All he regrets is the fact that he’s a distraction? He has no problem with the actions themselves? Wow! It’s just another piece of the growing evidence that Cabrera just doesn’t get it and he might have some serious character flaws that show that maybe he doesn’t deserve to take the field until he gets his crap together. Winning at all costs doesn’t interest me in the slightest. Throwing away integrity just to win the division doesn’t interest me either. In fact, I’d MUCH rather lose than win with that bum. Bench him now until he shows signs that he gets it. Does Cabrera owe me anything? Of course not, but there are consequences for actions that one takes, but Miggy seems to think he’s above that. The only thing I owe Cabrera is to join my voice with a chorus of boos until i see something other than a punk that makes getting crushed a priority over getting ready to play.

David

October 6, 2009 at 2:45 am

lol i agree

i’d be sad to see him go down the zumaya path

then again the bambino was able to do some of this funny stuff for most of his career and get away with it.

Baroque

October 6, 2009 at 4:41 am

Good take on the situation. What horrible, horrible timing.

And if I were one of his teammates, I would want to throttle him – and then make damn sure he was sober and ready to go on Tuesday night, because the only way he can make amends for this is to have a good game and help the team get into the postseason that they have been trying so hard to do.

Keith (Mr. X)

October 6, 2009 at 5:20 am

When did baseball players all of a sudden have integrity? Some of you really want the Tigers to lose because Miggy has character flaws? Yes, Cabrera screwed up. Yes, he probably should be fined by the team. Yes, he deserves to get booed.
But I don’t want to piss away this huge game and the division title Today because Miggy screwed up 3 days ago.
I’m not quiting on the Tigers.

Andy in Kalamazoo

October 6, 2009 at 7:46 am

Thank you Bilfer for the excellent response to this event.

I too feel that through the course of any given year, we recreate by watching the game, and understand that a baseball season is an ultimate “project” or undertaking. It’s the culmination of 10′s of thousands of hours of practice and experience that we mostly only hope can be duplicated by our children as they grow up, most never make it. To have the arrogance to perform this way is inexcusable considering the “investment” of all parties involved. If we miss the AL central Clinch for 2009 this will surely go down as the red flag event of the season.
The frustration of the Royals, Twins, and Sox series are having new light shed on them, if this type of behavior is tollerated it certainly has to contribute to at least some of the dead bats of these series, certainly his own. Is Cabrera this the new Dmitri Young?? The guy who tripped and fell on his face on his way to 1st base in 2006? When there are men on 2nd and 3rd with 0 or 1 out, and we cannot muster a single, over and over, as a fan watching, it’s like being gutted alive.

greg

October 6, 2009 at 8:42 am

Mr X – call me extreme, but I expect players to be ready to play, that includes refraining from such behavior he demonstrated(getting FUBARED as Miguel did and showing up hungover, and possibly still slightly intoxicated). When did such crazy ideas begin? I think the correct question is, when did we start to lower our standards so low. I think it’s safe to say that Tampa had them last year, when they benched BJ Upton for loafing. As an organization, they get it. You reap what you sow, and the Rays reaped success from having certain expectations from their players. For Tampa, that includes playing hard.

Truth be told, 95% of the time there are minor incidents that precede extreme ones such as this. The Tigers probably didn’t hold him accountable then, thus encouraged/enabled his irresponsibility. They are merely reaping what they sowed then(yes this is speculation, but it’s based on wisdom and experience).

Point is, if the Tigers, as an organization, have certain standards, then you minimize or even completely eliminate things such as this, however if you throw away your standards, then you’ll reap the fruits, sooner or later. In other words, there’s a 90% chance the Tigers, down the road, will have to deal with FAR worse than just a superstar missing one game if they just blow this off, and by doing so put their stamp of approval on such behavior.

Besides, Miggy is just one player. The idea that the Tigers automatically lose because he’s not in the lineup is ludicrous. In fact, If the Tigers had done the correct thing and benched him on Saturday, when he was hungover and clearly not ready to play, there’s a good chance the Tigers would be getting ready for the Yankees right now(someone said he went 0-4 and left 6 men on base…yeah, we can’t win without that kind of performance). I don’t accept the notion that sitting Miggy = automatic loss.

Coach Jim

October 6, 2009 at 9:07 am

(back home after a weekend away)
Kathy was the first, and possibly only person to have a view of tolerance. Bravo! I’m not a fan of formal apologies. I’m not a fan of counseling. I certainly don’t want to tell somebody how they should live. I am not so arrogant that I should impose my personal values on someone else. It’s his private life, and I prefer it to stay that way. I don’t think being a professional athlete is enough cause to forfeit your privacy.

Kathy

October 6, 2009 at 11:54 am

It’ not just that I’m tolerant, but I don’t take it personally. It’s him that has the alcohol problem. Having worked for a public school system for 30 years and coming from an immigrant family background, I can assure you, this behavior doesn’t shock me. It is, what it is. The organization will probably sanction him in one way or another just to make things look good. Right now, I’m just listening to MLB Network, where all they talk about is baseball. All of them are former baseball players who have seen and done it all. The media are having a field day just like they did with ARod and his personal life and how it affected the team. Hasn’t anyone else ever looked at our players and could tell who didn’t get any sleep the night before?

greg

October 6, 2009 at 9:57 am

Privacy? Seriously? Who said anything about privacy? This isn’t a camera in the keyhole for goodness sakes. Dave Dombrowski had to pick him up at the police station. Hard to keep that ‘private’ from the General Manager when you ask him to pick you up at the station. The guy was out in public getting crushed, not in his home, and showed up clearly not ready to play. And his actions have a DIRECT IMPACT on his team. If you think we live in a world in which there are no consequences for your actions, wow, I just don’t know how to respond to that. Everyday my employer ‘imposes their way of how I should live my life’ by expecting me to do whatever it takes to show up ready for work. That includes being sober during working hours, not doing drugs, not showing up hungover, and not engaging in behavior that would bring about a negative impact on the company. In fact, if my employer DIDN’T expect those, I’d say they had questionable character and I would lose respect for them.

Besides I’m not imposing my personal values on anyone. I’m merely calling a spade a spade. I have no authority over the Tigers front office, or Miguel, they don’t give two bleeps what I think, and that’s fine.

Miggy can do whatever he wants, Bravo! so can I, I can boo him and root for him to fail until he comes to grips with reality.

David

October 6, 2009 at 12:41 pm

Very well said Greg. I wish magic existed and anything I did that could be harmful to myself or others was magically eliminated and it started raining gold and I would never have to work for anything. Sadly, the real world doesn’t work that way.

“I don’t think being a professional athlete is enough cause to forfeit your privacy.”

Well the word “think” in this case is your value judgment and it doesn’t matter what you think, the fact is it is enough to forfeit your privacy.

And my value judgment is the following

I shouldn’t physically FORCE anyone to do anything and likewise towards me but, I can hold my own views based upon their actions and conduct myself towards them accordingly.

Brent Rowe

October 6, 2009 at 11:45 am

Greg is right. Right on.

I have a simple problem that I want input on….

I bought a lot of playoff tickets. I am a season ticket holder. When I bought extra tickets I got stunk with tons of fees. $12 per ticket. I don’t get that money back even if the game doesn’t happen.

If they lose and don’t make the playoffs that was my problem for buying the tickets. However, if Dave D., as president allowed a drunk man to play the game of baseball then I have a problem losing that money.

Anyone in for a boycott of buying season tickets again if they don’t refund fees?

sftigersfan

October 6, 2009 at 12:26 pm

This has probably been covered on here already, but … I’m all in favor of benching him for this one-game playoff. I don’t care if they win or lose, just not with him in the lineup. Playing him — especially now that this is out publicly — sends a message to him that it’s OK to put himself before the team, and that message gets digested by the rest of the team. This is a decision that will say a lot about Leyland as a manager — the same Jim Leyland who used to get in Barry Bonds’ face as manager of the Pirates — and perhaps about the team’s collapse down the stretch.

Jeff Molby

October 6, 2009 at 12:41 pm

Actually, benching him tonight is saying, “It’s ok to put yourself before the team as long as it doesn’t go public.”

The right move would have been to suspend him for Saturday’s game with a simple announcement to the effect that he had violated team rules.